Disaster
by CarriePoppins
Summary: Hawkmoth has discovered Chat Noir's true identity: his own son, Adrien Agreste. In a frantic attempt to protect his Miraculous from his father, Adrien chooses to leave Plagg and the Ring of the Black Cat with the one person he knows he can trust: Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
1. Prologue

Prologue

_Hurry, hurry, hurry._

Such was the mantra pounding through his head. He didn't have time to truly allow the horror of his situation to sink in, just snatch a few things and run. He could hear shouting, and then a bestial howl that made his blood run cold.

Time was up.

He was hardly even aware of the cold rain pelting his face as he leapt from one rooftop to the next. He had to find a place to hide. Or at least, a place to hide it. With the Huntress coming after him, that was probably the safer option.

But where? Or with whom?

Half a dozen options flew through his mind, but most seemed either too obvious or too risky. Then, through the mist of the rainy afternoon, he caught sight of a building with a familiar contour.

_Of course. I should have thought of her right away._

One more leap and he'd reached the rooftop. Her skylight was unlocked for him, as had become their custom, so it was a simple matter to slip inside. Instantly, the warmth of her room and her scent flooded his senses, filling him with the same sense of peace and security as it always did. He didn't have time to relax though. He couldn't see her; where was she?

Another howl split the air.

No time to wait for her.

A ripple of green light filled the room as he pulled off the ring, and a small black cat materialized in midair.

"Kid-"

"No time to argue, Plagg. You'll be safe here."

"But kid-"

"Just sit tight and wait for her to find you. Ask her to help you get to Ladybug."

"But Adrien, _what about you?!_"

"He won't hurt me. And if I don't have you, then I won't be able to help him hurt anyone else. I don't know Ladybug's identity anyway, so I won't be of any use to him."

"Adrien-"

"Bye, Plagg. I'm glad I got the chance to meet you."

"Adrien, don't-!"

_Click._

He gazed sadly at the little black box in his hand before snatching up the sketchbook lying on the quilt and scribbling a quick message on a blank page, then shoving a few things under her pillow.

Not the most creative hiding spot in the world, but it would have to do.

When he climbed onto the roof once again, the howlings were much closer. Gritting his teeth, the boy vaulted the wall onto the next rooftop and kept running, determined to put as much distance between himself and his friends as he could.


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

Mme. Sabine Cheng looked up, beaming, as the bell of the shop rang over the pounding rain to admit two giggling young women.

"Welcome home, Marinette. Good to see you, Alya."

"Hi Maman!"

"Afternoon Sabine!"

Marinette whooshed out a breath, shaking out her umbrella. "Boy, it's really coming down today. I sure hope nobody's been caught out in that storm."

"No kidding," Alya grinned, wringing out her hair. "It's raining Chat Noir's and dogs out there."

Marinette smirked at her. "Chat Noir out in the rain? Don't count on it."

"That's right! His cat tendencies have gotten stronger over the years, haven't they? Do you think Ladybug has any weird bug tendencies? Like aversion to the cold or something?"

"Uh… Probably? But I mean, lots of people don't like the cold. Wouldn't really narrow down your Ladybug hunt."

"True. I mean, you're a winter-hater too."

"YEah! It's just… You know, the snow soaks into your shoes and your socks and the cold eats into your bones and it's just… _gross_ you know? Plus I look horrible in sweaters."

"Yeah right, girl," Alya snickered. "If you wanted to look good in sweaters, you know you could design one that would fit your figure."

"Heh heh…" Marinette giggled nervously, putting her umbrella to one side. "Anyway Maman, we'll be upstairs. _Lots_ of homework to do!"

"Here girls, take a snack to strengthen those growing brains of yours."

"Thanks Maman," her daughter beamed, leaning in and kissing her cheek as she accepted the plate of cookies - one of which she promptly slipped into her purse for Tikki's enjoyment - then she and Alya hurried upstairs to her bedroom. "So, what should we work on first? Madame Bustier's writing assignment, or Madame Mendeliev's chemistry home- Why is my bed wet?" Marinette frowned, mid-way up the ladder. Worried, she leaned in close and sniffed the massive damp patch, but it didn't smell musty or unusual in any other way.

"That's weird," Alya frowned, stepping onto the lower rungs and peeking around her. "Did rain get through your skylight?"

"The umbrella on the balcony should stop that from happening. I guess that's possible if it was blown aside by the storm, but in that case, shouldn't it still be dripping?" She climbed onto the bed to look directly out of the skylight. "It looks like it's still in place. I don't see any rain hitting the glass, at least. And there doesn't seem to be any water along the seal."

"Well what else could it have been? Unless somebody dumped water on your bed?"

"I know, it's weird," Marinette frowned, tugging her quilt free from the bed and feeling underneath. "It's just surface level, though. The sheets are still dry."

"Did somebody climb on your bed while they were wet?"

Marinette froze, staring at the quilt. Wet only on a surface level, positioned directly beneath her skylight, no other signs of water in the room. Only one person came in by her balcony. What the heck was so urgent that Chat Noir would come out in the rain? And why wouldn't he have called Ladybug about it? She instinctively began to search, scanning the room for any kind of message that Chat Noir could have left behind. Almost immediately, her eyes fell upon her sketchbook, propped on her pillow where she certainly hadn't left it, lying open to a blank page that was slightly wrinkled by water. With trembling fingers, she took the notebook in her hands and read the message hastily scribbled in handwriting that certainly was not her own.

She knew, somewhere in the back of her mind, that Alya was trying to talk to her, but she couldn't hear her over the blood roaring in her ears.

_This doesn't make sense. We_ saw _him akumatized! And why would he tell_ me? _Why not call Ladybug or at least Alya, unless… Wait… but how would he have… _

_No, it can't be. It can't be _him_, I would have… I would have known, wouldn't I? And it still doesn't make _sense_, why wouldn't he have called me? _

_Oh. Oh God, no._

On a frantic impulse, Marinette seized her pillow and threw it aside, revealing in its place a small, octagonal black box with red markings and a round white box marked with a Camembert cheese label.

_No._

She knew full-well which of the kwamis had a fondness for Camembert.

_No no no no no._

"Marinette! Marinette, are you sick? You look like you're about to pass out or something; what's wrong? What… what's that?"

Marinette was having trouble breathing. Her heart wouldn't stop racing, and she could feel heat rushing from her chest to the tips of her toes and all the way back up to the tips of her ears. Her hands were trembling as she scooped up the little black box. Somewhere in the distance she heard Alya's gasp, and hasty sounds of retreat as she reached for the lid, but she couldn't scramble out of the way before Marinette flipped it open.

Immediately, a flash of green light filled the room, momentarily blinding the two girls. A moment later, a shrill mewl rent the air, followed by a black speck that shot from one side of the room to the other, phasing in and out of boxes and tossing the discarded quilt into the air.

"Kid? Kid! Kid, where are you?! Come on, you can't do this to me, not now!"

"Plagg! Plagg, calm down!" Marinette cried, leaping off her bed with the Ring of the Black Cat clutched in her fist.

"Plagg? Wait, you know that kw- cat?!" Alya exclaimed, scrambling down after her.

"La- Marinette!" the little black fairy squealed, rushing towards her. "My boy, have you seen him?! Where is he!?"

"Slow down, Plagg. What happened? Why did Chat Noir leave you here?"

The little cat's ears drooped, his tail curling through his legs, his electric green eyes suddenly brimming with tears. "So… you haven't seen him? He's really gone?"

"_Gone?!_ What do you mean?!"

"…He left me here because it was the safest place he could think of on short notice. My boy… Chat Noir… Hawkmoth learned his true identity."

Marinette's vision seemed to tunnel; the room turned misty and swayed around her. She grasped for something, _anything_ to steady her, but felt herself stagger, unable to find anything solid before a hand took her arm and guided her to her swivel chair, where she promptly collapsed.

"No," she whispered dully. "Chat… no… y-you can't… Minou…"

Chat Noir.

Her partner.

Her hero.

Her best friend.

Her love.

And he was gone.

He was gone, and she had no idea to get him back.

"… ar…et… ette… Mari… _Marinette!_"

The designer startled slightly, her dull, tear-filled eyes jerking up to meet Alya's fierce hazel ones. "Look, you're obviously devastated, but as much as you want to cry and as much as _I _want you to explain what the _heck_ is going on, _you_ have a job to do!"

"Huh?"

"Marinette, Chat Noir wouldn't have left his ring here for you to find it if he didn't think you could _help_ him! Now get your butt and your brain in gear and _think!_ We need to get some answers, and quick! Like, how did Hawkmoth figure out his identity to begin with?" Alya snapped, turning towards the little black fairy cat floating anxiously a few feet in front of them.

"I… I don't know for sure. I don't even know how long Hawkmoth has been watching him, but… earlier today Hawkmoth confronted him, told him what he knew, and tried to convince him to join forces. Chat refused, and made a break for it, but Hawkmoth sent an akuma after him, an akuma with tracking powers. He believed that the only thing he could do was ditch the ring and keep running, hopefully lead Hawkmoth away from it. Since the akuma didn't find me before you did, I guess it worked," Plagg mumbled, obviously miserable. Marinette's heart went out to the little kwami. She couldn't even imagine having to part with Tikki under such circumstances. Sadly, she stretched out her hand towards him. He regarded it for a moment, then apathetically plopped down onto her palm.

"Okay, well if you can't tell us exactly what happened, then can you tell us who Hawkmoth and Chat Noir are so we can _help him?_ I mean I get the whole secret identity thing, honestly, but this is kind of an emergency!"

Plagg sighed bitterly and shook his head. "The magic prevents me from saying either of their names. It's a fail-safe, just in case we get captured by someone with ill intentions. But it's pretty frustrating in situations like this."

"Actually, I think Chat thought of that," Marinette whispered. "He wrote a note in my sketchbook."

"What did it say?!"

"It said that Hawkmoth is Gabriel Agreste. And it was signed with a pawprint and the name 'Adrien Agreste'."


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Alya froze, staring at her dull-eyed best friend, shocked by the simple implication in her words - an implication that was only confirmed as the little black kwami's - Plagg's - luminous green eyes filled with tears. "My brave, idiotic boy," he mumbled, quickly brushing them away.

"So hang on. Hawkmoth is Gabriel Agreste. And Chat Noir… is Adrien?" she asked weakly.

Plagg nodded miserably. "Now you see why Hawkmoth thought he could turn him, huh."

"Yeah, but _Adrien _is _Chat Noir?! _Marinette, how are you not _freaking out_ right now!?"

The sharp, bitter bark of laughter that exploded from Marinette's mouth startled the young reporter into silence. "Both the boys I love turn out to be the same person and also happen to be on the run from a maniacal supervillain who _also _happens to be his father? Do you _really_ think this is the best time for me to freak out?" she spat.

Alya blinked at her BFF. Opened her mouth to speak, closed it, and tried again. "_Both_ the boys you love? Since when… have you had feelings for Chat Noir?"

Marinette blinked back at her, eyes widening as she seemed to realize what she'd said for the first time. Then her gaze dropped to an even wider-eyed Plagg, staring up at her with his mouth hanging open and managed a weak smile. "I'm sorry," she whispered, tears trembling in the corners of her eyes. "I wanted to tell them - _him_ \- but I… I was still so _confused._ How could I feel so strongly about two different people? But I guess it all makes sense now."

Alya's heart felt like it was in a vice. All that pain in her BFF's eyes… She almost didn't even care that she hadn't told her about her feelings for Chat Noir.

Almost. But that could be addressed later.

Without a word, she dropped onto her knees in front of her friend and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. Marinette stiffened for just a second, then she broke down sobbing, clutching at Alya's shirt with her free hand, sliding from her chair and hitting her knees roughly on the wooden floor. Alya was vaguely aware that Plagg had also flown from Marinette's hand and was now nuzzling her cheek much like a regular house cat, and that she had also raised her hand to cup her palm around him, holding him close, giving each other comfort to the best of their ability.

Alya didn't know how long they remained there - Minutes? Hours? - but eventually Marinette drew away, her blue eyes bright and almost flinty with a newfound determination.

"Mari?" Alya frowned as the ravenette rose shakily to her feet and walked with a purposeful stride to her bed, climbing up to rip Adrien's - _Chat's _\- note out of her sketchbook and to grab the black Miraculous box and Camembert wheel. Then she paused, staring at a third item lying where her pillow had been. Plagg floated up to join her, his head cocked curiously to one side.

"He left that, too? I don't think I've seen him without it since you gave it to him. Not even once," Plagg murmured, obviously surprised as he floated over to the object. "I guess he didn't want to risk having anything on him that might connect you to him."

"I see," Marinette choked back, gathering up the item in one fist and pressing that fist to her lips. She managed a deep, shuddering breath, then turned back towards a bemused Alya, tucking it into her pocket before she could see it.

The journalist wanted to ask her what the item was, but somehow, it just didn't feel right.

"Grab your stuff. We're leaving," Marinette managed briskly, shoving the gifts into her backpack and striding to her closet, where she rummaged around for a while.

"Leaving? Leaving to where?" Alya frowned, snatching up her backpack as Marinette walked out clutching a length of leather cord, probably leftover from an old sewing project.

"To see a friend."

Alya watched curiously as Marinette strung Chat Noir's ring onto the piece of leather, then tied the ends and slipped the impromptu necklace over her head, tucking her new, very special pendant underneath her shirt. "Okay, what kind of friend?"

"Plagg, you can hide in my purse, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," he nodded, zipping into the open clutch. Alya frowned when she heard a surprised little mew from the cat-kwami, but Marinette snapped her purse closed before she could guess why.

"Marinette? You haven't answered my question."

"I can't tell you that here. Come on," she beckoned, heading to her trapdoor.

"Okay…" Alya frowned, but followed. What had she meant by that?

"Hm? Where are you girls off to now?" Marinette's mother frowned as the two girls slipped around the counter once again.

Before Alya could even open her mouth, Marinette spun back towards her mother with a bright smile that didn't reach her eyes and declared, "To the library, Maman. We forgot some materials that we need for our literature class."

"Oh dear," Mme. Cheng clicked her tongue. "You've been so forgetful these days! Do hurry back, dear. And try to stay dry!"

"No promises!" Marinette smiled back, snatching her raincoat from the rack and her umbrella from the corner.

"Uh. We'll see you later, Sabine!" Alya called, hurrying to follow suit. Since when had Marinette been such a little actress?

"Alya, can you do me a favor?" Marinette called through the rain, pulling her phone out of her purse and beginning to type something that she couldn't see.

"Sure, what do you need?" Alya replied, hurrying to keep up with her, bewildered by the calm, calculating look in her friend's eyes.

"Text Chloe this address and ask her to meet you there as soon as possible. If she asks, tell her that Adrien's in trouble, and if she still asks, tell her it's a request from Ladybug. She'll believe you before she believes me."

"Say _what?_"

"Just do it!"

A strange sense of unease began to settle in Alya's chest as Marinette forged ahead through the rain, dodging other pedestrians scrambling to get indoors. Was Marinette really this desperate to save Chat? Adrien, rather? Actually given that little detail, that was kind of a no-brainer. But why would she want Chloe? Could it have to do with her known connections to Ladybug as Queen Bee? In that case, it was extremely tempting to just tell Marinette that she was in fact Rena Rouge. If anyone could find Ladybug, she could.

Her brow furrowed as Marinette handed her phone back for Alya to see what she'd written in another text to _Nino_ of all people. In it was a quick message requesting that he meet them at an address she'd never seen before as soon as possible, and that it was about Adrien. She hadn't mentioned anything about him being in trouble, but then again, Nino probably didn't need any extra motivation.

But… Nino was Carapace. She was Rena Rouge. And Chloe was Queen Bee. Of course everyone knew about Chloe, but only she, Ladybug, and Nino knew who bore the Turtle and Fox Miraculouses. Could it really just be sheer coincidence that Marinette was gathering the three of them now?

Hesitantly, Alya copied the address into a new message on her own phone and sent it to Chloe, along with the bit about Adrien being in trouble. She got a response surprisingly quickly, promising that the spoiled mayor's daughter would be there in fifteen. About the same time, Marinette's phone buzzed with a response from Nino, predicting a similar ETA.

Within about five minutes, Marinette and Alya had reached their destination themselves: what appeared to be a little home medicine shop decorated with Chinese lanterns and characters. Marinette marched inside without the slightest hesitation, closed her umbrella, tossed it aside, and threw open the sliding door that led to what Alya could only assume was the main office.

"Master Fu!" she called, kicking off her shoes. "Master Fu, there's an emergency!"

"Marinette!" Alya hissed after her, scrambling into the room as well after hastily setting aside her own things. "What are you doing, nobody can know -"

"Marinette?" a wizened voice called curiously, as an old Chinese man stepped out of a back room, his shoulders slightly hunched, tugging at a gray goatee, his brows creased with concern. Alya blinked at him, a little bewildered. After all, how many old Chinese medicine men wore cherry red Hawaiian shirts? "Oh! I see you've brought a friend!"

"Master, I'm sorry, but I think it's time," Marinette said quietly.

"Oh? Time for what, Marinette?"

"Time to tell the team about everything. Chat Noir has been compromised, but he was able to leave us one last message," she explained, putting down her backpack and pulling out Chat Noir's note.

Alya stared, flabbergasted, as her evidently insane BFF handed the piece of paper off to the old man, which he accepted with a deep frown. As he read it, his eyes widened sharply.

"Well, this is most certainly an unexpected turn of events," he murmured, stroking his beard. "Under the circumstances, Marinette, I think that you are right. Can you contact the others?"

"I already have. They should be here any minute."

"Okay, can someone _please _explain to me what's going on?" Alya snapped, unable to ignore her reporter's need for information any longer.

Marinette and 'Master Fu' exchanged glances, then the latter of the two shrugged, smiling slightly. Marinette sighed, then reached down and snapped open her purse. "Alright you two. Come out."

_Two?_

Plagg shot out of the purse almost instantly, flying straight to Master Fu and begging to know if there was a plan in the works to save his boy. That in and of itself was shocking, but Alya's attention was seized by a second pair of luminous eyes - blue this time - peeking out of Marinette's clutch, followed by a cherry red body with black spots.

Or rather, a _ladybug_ red body.

The kwami smiled sadly at her, perching on Marinette's shoulder as she went. "Hello, Alya," she murmured in a soft, almost squeaky voice. "I'm sorry that we have to meet this way, but it is nice to finally talk to you."

Alya stared at the undeniably ladybug-themed kwami for about ten seconds.

Then she screamed bloody murder.


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Chloe Bourgeois wrinkled her nose in irritation as she stepped out of the car. There wasn't any one thing that she was irritated about. After all, there were a lot of options: the rain, the muddy cobblestones, the dingy rundown dump in front of her, the effect of humidity on her hair, and of course the oh-so-ominous text message from that blogger girl. She gritted her teeth, narrowing her eyes at the front door as she snatched her umbrella from Jean What's-his-name and stalked towards the front door.

Adrien had better really be in trouble. If this was some kind of practical joke, she was going to-

A muffled scream interrupted her thoughts. Chloe flinched, staring at the door for a few precious seconds before the Queen Bee in her took over. However, the sight that greeted her when she raced inside was not at all what she had been expecting.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng stood gripping the shoulders of a hyperventilating Alya Cesaire with white knuckles, her icy blue eyes narrowed on the darker-skinned girl's face, while some creepy old man in a trashy Hawaiian top smiled at the two of them.

"_Marinette Dupain-Cheng!_" she snapped, marching towards the startled girl. "_What_ is the meaning of this? I always knew you were a snake, but attacking your own best friend and dragging her out here, making it so that she had to lie about my Adrikins being in trouble to escape you - unless you've done something to _him_ as well?! Well, speak up, Dupain-Cheng! Just what is… happening… here…"

Chloe spluttered to a stop, practically going cross-eyed in an effort to keep track of the two - no _three_ specks floating at eye-level in front of her, forming a wall between her and the raven-haired brat that had turned to face her. She took a step back in order to take them in properly. One was black, one was green, and one was red. All three had huge, round eyes, and appearances that hailed to specific animals: a cat, a turtle, and… a ladybug?

"What… What are…?" she stuttered as the wheels in her head began to turn.

"So you're the infamous Chlo," the little black cat drawled, his tail curling under him as though he were lounging on a cushion, his tiny fangs bared in a thin, seemingly forced smile. Chloe startled at the endearment. The only person who called her Chlo was-

"Miss Chloe Bourgeois. A pleasure to meet you," the turtle bowed slightly. "I am Wayzz. This is Plagg and Tikki."

"But you're… I mean… Aren't you…?"

"Kwamis?" Wayzz prompted with the slightest of smiles. "Why yes, that is correct."

"But why… Why are you _here_, out in the open, talking to _them! _What is going on here; shouldn't you be with Ladybug? Doesn't she protect you until you're needed?!"

"Not quite, Miss Bourgeois," a new voice piped up, and she turned, bewildered, towards that weird old man. He bowed to her, smiling faintly. "In fact _I_ am the Guardian of the Miraculouses, and as such I am the person from whom Ladybug gets the Bee Miraculous before passing it on to you. I will admit, I had my doubts when she chose to trust you, but it would seem that you do have something of a righteous streak after all."

"But that _still_ begs the question of _why are they here?!_" Chloe demanded, thrusting a finger at the blogger and the brat. "Where the heck is Ladybug? And Chat Noir for that matter? Shouldn't you two at least be with them?!" she continued, pointing accusingly at the black and red kwamis.

The black kwami suddenly bristled, his tail standing on end much like an actual spooked cat, and the red kwami quickly floated over to him, laying a hand - paw? nub? _thing?_ \- on his shoulder and opening up her mouth -

"_Idiot!_"

Everyone in the room jumped, whirling towards Alya as the goody-goody clutched her ombre hair, glasses knocked askew, mouth still hanging open. Chloe felt the cat in _her _puffing up as well, and started to inquire just _who_ Alya presumed to call an idiot when the girl suddenly groaned and slumped to her knees, somehow both giggling and crying at the same time.

"Oh my God, I am _such_ an idiot!" she moaned. "How the heck did I not see it before?"

"A-Alya…" Dupain-Cheng stuttered, fluttering around her in concern, apparently alarmed by her reaction to whatever revelation she'd just had.

"Excuse me, but could you _not_ have a mental breakdown when we're in the middle of trying to have a civil conversation?"

The head case in question blinked, staring at her for a few seconds as though she'd only just realized that Chloe was standing there - the nerve! Then suddenly a wicked smirk curled her lips. "Oh _believe _me, I won't be the only one having a mental breakdown in the next few minutes," she grinned.

"Alya," Marinette interrupted, a little sharply.

"Right, right, we need to work together right now, I get it," Alya sighed, flopping dramatically onto her side, then twisting so that she could smile upside down at the old man. "So does this mean I can see Trixx now?"

"Are you ignoring me?!" Chloe demanded, positively affronted.

"Uh… sorry dudes, but did I come in at a bad time?"

Chloe spun on her heel to face the newcomer: that DJ boy, Nino, the one always hanging around her Adrikins. He looked as ratty as ever in his plain jeans and T-shirt, his headphones draped around his neck and his ballcap dripping with water.

"No, you're right on time Nino," Marinette called quietly.

"Nino!" cried a cheerful voice, and the turtle kwami, Wayzz, zipped straight over to the boy, eliciting a delighted "Dude!" from the DJ as the two shared a fist bump.

Chloe was flabbergasted. Nino Lahiffe _knew_ this kwami? But that was impossible! Unless…

No. No way. _No freaking way._

"Explain yourself," she snapped, whirling on Marinette, her clutch flying out from her body as she folded her arms across her chest. "And I mean _now._"

"Calm down, Miss Bourgeois," the old man in the corner murmured, smiling faintly. "Have a seat, all of you, while I fetch some tea, and perhaps some treats for the kwamis?" he added with a curious glance. The red one, Tikki, nodded, but Plagg shook his head.

"No way can I stomach anything right now," he muttered, pouting like a child.

Master Fu nodded, his eyes downturned. "Marinette, why don't you start from the beginning?"

"Which beginning?"

"The _very_ beginning," he chuckled, pacing into the back room.

Dupain-Cheng took a deep breath, then walked into the larger center room and knelt down, her hands folded in her lap. Strangely, both the ladybug and the cat kwamis floated over to join her, settling down on her shoulders. Cesaire soon followed, then an animated Lahiffe and Wayzz. Chloe huffed and trailed after them for Adrien's sake.

If the nagging suspicions in her mind were correct, then she had the horrible feeling Adrien wasn't just "in trouble".

Marinette Dupain-Cheng took a deep breath, forcing her hands to relax over her knees as she looked up at each of them with a determined light in her eyes. Chloe had always hated that look, usually because it meant that Marinette had some kind of bone to pick with her. Now though, it was oddly comforting to see her in business mode instead of flustered-beyond-cognitive-processing-capacity mode.

"Okay. First and foremost, let me explain how I came to meet Tikki…"

Chloe sat, dumbfounded, through the entire story, numbly accepting a cup of tea from the old man - Guardian, rather - while Marinette explained how she'd found a mysterious black box on her desk and discovered Tikki and the Ladybug earrings inside of it, how she'd met Chat Noir, how she'd learned to fight, and how she'd come to the conclusion that they needed more help. She listened to Nino gripe about how he should have known it all along, to Alya tease him mercilessly while reluctantly admitting that she should have known, too, and to the disbelieving pounding of her own heartbeat.

"So if this is all true," she said quietly, forcing her brain out of neutral, "then why are you telling us this now? Why isn't Chat Noir here to back up your claim? And what does this all have to do with Adrien?"

"I was just getting to that, but you're right to ask," Marinette replied, equally quietly. Then she continued with the story, and Alya suddenly sobered up as she described the note she'd found on her bed earlier, made the impossible assertion that her Adrikins was in fact that mangy Chat Noir - although before she could voice that thought, the black cat kwami, Plagg, bared his fangs at her in a hiss as though he could read her mind - and her decision to bring them all together.

"Knowing who Hawkmoth is and how closely each of us are connected to him, especially knowing that he most likely has Adrien - our Chat Noir - in his custody, I thought it was wisest to finally bring everyone together and explain the situation so as to avoid anyone unknowingly falling into danger, as well as plan our next move. Of course none of our identities - excluding Chloe's - have been revealed, so I don't think he'll come after us looking for our specific Miraculouses, but if he learns that the Ring of the Black Cat was hidden with one of Adrien's friends, then he might come looking for it."

"So… what now?" Nino muttered, staring a hole into the floor.

"Isn't that obvious?!" Chloe snapped. "We're going to take down Hawkmoth and get Adrien back, you dummy!"

A low chuckle caused her to whirl around, mouth open and ready to continue arguing her position, only to see the Guardian, smiling faintly, his hand outstretched towards her. "Well-spoken, Miss Bourgeois." Chloe's eyes widened, and before she could check herself, she had snatched the little box from his palm and snapped it open.

She was only vaguely aware that the familiar, glimmering yellow light had been followed by a bright orange light somewhere in Alya's direction as the little bee kwami appeared in front of her. "Hello again, my Queen," the kwami smiled sweetly, and she couldn't suppress a squeal of delight.

"Pollen!" Chloe cried, cuddling her friend close to her cheek. She vaguely heard Alya whooping as a little orange blur twirled around her, burrowing in her wild curls with little yips of excitement. Pollen nuzzled her gently, then pulled away, settling on the blond's shoulder.

Marinette smiled as she watched the two reunions, her eyes turning soft. Then she lifted a hand to cup the little black cat kwami on her shoulder, gently scratching between his ears as he sniffled back tears. A moment later, the ladybug kwami joined her, hugging him tight. At the same time, Marinette pulled a string of beads from the pocket of her jeans. She stared at them quietly, her expression tight, as though she were barely restraining her tears. Chloe hated to admit that she knew what that expression looked like due to personal experience.

"Just hold on, Kitty," Marinette whispered, bringing the beads to her lips. "We're coming for you. I promise."

It was only then that the last of Chloe's doubts washed away. It still sounded like absolute madness for Adrien to be Chat Noir, and the idea of Marinette being Ladybug admittedly made her feel like she'd just swallowed a live mouse whole.

But she did believe it. Who besides Ladybug could have such a look of tenderness on her face while referring to her partner?

What kind of crazy freak show had she been thrown into?


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Nino glanced down for the bazillionth time at the jade bracelet encircling his left wrist as he walked home, huddled in his raincoat with his cap pulled low over his eyes. He knew that he should be freaking out more, and it really was a lot to take in: Marinette was Ladybug, Adrien - his _best bro_ \- was Chat Noir, there was something called a Guardian that handed out the Miraculouses when necessary, and he, Nino Lahiffe, was somehow, inexplicably, now the proper holder of the Turtle Miraculous. It felt like some crazy dream. Or, under the circumstances, a crazy nightmare.

Yet, it all felt so _right _at the same time. Somehow, everything about this made sense. Marinette's and Adrien's horrible attendance records, the way Ladybug and Chat Noir interacted with the students in their class, how one or the other of them always seemed to show up seconds after someone at the school had been akumatized, and even the weird chemistry that had always existed between Marinette and Adrien, even at Marinette's most flustered and Adrien's most clueless. They'd been closer than best friends for years and they hadn't even known it.

And of course, it also explained all of the strangeness surrounding Adrien himself: his insanely busy schedule, his nervous tick of playing with his silver ring, his blush every time he was around Ladybug. And of course, his sheer desperation to escape his father. To experience freedom. If Chat Noir was just a buried part of his pre-existing personality, then of course he had fought so desperately to attend public school and live his own life.

And now, he was probably trapped behind bars - figurative or literal - once again.

He was distracted from such thoughts when he felt Wayzz shift in the small hollow between his headphones and his neck; it was the best hiding spot he had until he snagged his school bag from back home. The kwami had seemed a little reluctant to leave the Master Fu dude, but Nino didn't hold it against him. After all, one hundred and seventy years was a long time to spend with one person. It would take some time to adjust.

"So tell me little dude," Nino began, cupping a hand around his headphones to hide the kwami from view, "do you think it's time for me to send the message?"

"I'm not sure, young master. Miss Bourgeois sent her message at Master Fu's home, and we don't want to look too much like we're working in tandem," Wayzz replied slowly.

"Just call me Nino, man. I don't think I could get used to somebody calling me master," Nino grinned, glancing down at the kwami's huge eyes. Wayzz blinked up at him, then smiled.

"Very well, Nino. But forgive me if I use the title by force of habit."

"No worries," the DJ shrugged, glancing up towards his apartment building and reaching in his pocket for his keys. "Best lay low, little dude. Don't want my fam to catch sight of you."

"Of course."

"Mom, I'm home!" he called as he stepped through the door, kicking off his shoes.

"Hey, honey!" her voice replied from the depths of the apartment. "How was your visit with your friends?"

"Fine, Mom! But I've gotta go do homework!"

"Okay!"

Nino paused, thinking for a few moments before calling again. "Hey, would it be alright if I invite Adrien for dinner?"

"Sure! The more the merrier!"

"Thanks! I'll let you know what he says!"

"Okay!"

Nino headed straight back to his room, pulling out his phone and sending out a quick text as he went. Once the door was closed, Wayzz began to explore his new home, floating around the DJ's recording station with interest, then his computer and the shelf lining the wall close to the ceiling, reading the titles of his books. "You have a lot of classic fiction here," Wayzz called with interest.

"Yeah, I've been thinking that I should get some more nonfiction stuff-"

"No, this is wonderful!"

"It is?"

"Of course! Where do you think stories such as _Peter Pan_ and _Alice in Wonderland_ draw their inspiration from? Most of the authors naturally had contact with kwamis and other magical folk."

"Hang on, _Alice in Wonderland_ was based on kwamis?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Trixx sure had fun with that one," Wayzz sighed, rolling his eyes slightly as he pulled _The Lord of the Rings_ off the shelf and opened it to the first page, his huge yellow eyes practically drinking in the words on the yellowed paper. NIno blinked at him a couple of times, then grinned broadly.

"Well tell you what, that makes me feel a whole lot better about my fantasy addiction."

Wayzz chuckled softly. "You're not the first of my Chosens to say something of that nature."

"What does that mean?"

"What does what mean?"

"When you call me your 'Chosen'? What is that?"

"Hm. Well I suppose that it refers to the bond we kwami form with those chosen to wear our Miraculouses."

"You mean those chosen by the Guardians?"

"Well yes, but it goes deeper than that. Anyone can use a Miraculous if they manage to find it, such as when Hawkmoth found the Moth Miraculous without the aid of a Guardian, and what he's trying to accomplish by getting his hands on the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses. However, it is up to us kwami to truly accept them. Only if we do that can the person fully release the power of the Miraculous and become 'Chosen'. Does that make sense?"

"I think so. Has it ever happened where someone picked by the Guardian wasn't Chosen?"

"Yes," Wayzz replied gravely, sadly. "How do you think we lost Nooroo and Duusu to begin with?"

"I'm sorry, who now?"

"The Moth and the Peafowl Miraculouses, of course. The kwamis bound to them are Nooroo and Duusu."

"So wait, what happened to them?"

"The Guardian selected someone unworthy of the power of the Peafowl, I'm afraid. Duusu rebelled against her master, and the wielder of the Moth Miraculous jumped in to control the resulting chaos. In the process, both the Miraculouses and their wielders were, we had believed, forever lost."

"They might have been, if Adrien's old man hadn't found them," Nino mused quietly.

"Pardon, young master?"

"I mean, I'm just saying, even though he's done some pretty horrible stuff, without Adrien's pops, would we have ever found them?"

Wayzz blinked at him with those huge eyes, and then the faintest of smiles touched his mouth. "I knew I chose well," he murmured, and turned back to his book.

Nino felt a blush rise to his cheeks, but before he could think of a way to respond his phone buzzed in his hand. His nerves instantly resurfaced as he saw that it was from Adrien.

_Sorry Nino, but something's come up. I can't come._

Nino felt his heart sink, but it wasn't like he'd expected anything different. _It's cool, we'll try another day. What's going on?_

_Last minute photo shoot for father's fall line._

_Gotcha. Well maybe I can meet you there and we can go out for coffee after?_

_It'll probably go too late for that._

_Okay. I'll see you in school tomorrow then._

_I won't make it tomorrow. Father wants to take me on a business trip with him. _

_For how long?_

_I don't know. I'll let you know when I get back._

_Okay._

"Well?" Wayzz prompted as Nino set the phone aside.

"I couldn't tell you for sure if it was actually Adrien responding to my messages or not, but he definitely dodged dinner and says his dad is taking him on a business trip indefinitely."

"A convenient way to disappear for awhile," Wayzz mused.

"For sure," Nino agreed, opening his phone as it buzzed again, this time with a message from Chloe.

_Did you get that crap about Adrikins going out of town, too?_

_Yeah, just now. A business trip with his dad._

_It's all bologna. I already checked with the local airlines about their first class customers to Italy._

_So what's that mean?_

_Ugh. It means Adrien's dad wants an excuse to disappear for a few days when he's actually still at the mansion._

_You think he has something planned?_

_Obviously. Tell Marinette to go on to Phase Two._

_Sure. Thanks Chloe._

_Duh._

Nino couldn't help but smile as he typed out the new message. Having Chloe contact Adrien first really was a genius idea. She had obviously managed to get a lot more fake details out of whomever was controlling Adrien's messages than he had, and he was willing to guess that she'd done so with extraordinarily little effort. Having him as the verifying witness was all they needed to force them into the lie and catch them in their tracks.

Marinette's text came quickly: _Alya and Trixx are on the move._

Nino responded with a quick acknowledgement, then tucked his phone away. "So what now?" he wondered out loud.

"Now, unfortunately, we wait," Wayzz sighed. "After 10,000 years, you would think I'd get used to such tedium."

"Dude, how long do kwamis usually live?"

"Frankly, I haven't the foggiest idea. The oldest among us is Tikki, Ladybug's kwami, and Plagg isn't much younger. The two of them have been in existence since before the Earth itself; about five billion years, give or take. The rest of us appeared slowly, with the evolution of man and civilization."

"Wow. So like, how are you _born?_"

"Hm. I believe that the best way to describe it would be that we are the living embodiments of the forces of humanity. Tikki and Plagg represent creation and destruction, respectively, and as such they were the first to appear. The Peacock, representing emotion, appeared with the humans about six million years ago, shortly followed by the Moth, representing manipulation. The Fox was next, embodying mystery and illusion. I represent civilization, so I appeared about when the hunter-gatherers began to settle down and build their own societies. Then the Bee represents rebellion, which must of necessity appear after the founding of civilization."

"Okay, I think that makes sense…" Nino said slowly, considering this new knowledge. "But that can't be all, can it? Aren't there other abstract concepts or whatever that embody humanity? Like… I don't know… music, or the internet?"

Wayzz chuckled. "Of course. And there are kwamis to represent each of them."

"So, there are more kwamis than just you five? Seven, counting the ones Hawkmoth has?"

"Yes, but they are too young, to inexperienced, to help us now. I'm afraid that we only have the first seven, the oldest, to rely upon."

Nino glanced towards his desk, at a class photo he had framed and placed next to his computer, and beside it, a picture of him, Alya, Adrien and Marinette. He and Alya had their arms around one another, while Adrien stood beside him, and Marinette beside his girlfriend. They were all grinning up at the camera except for Marinette, whose eyes were drifting towards a certain beaming blonde. "I guess all we can do is hope that'll be enough," he murmured.


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

The moment she got Marinette's message, Alya's heart started to race. Trixx poked his head out of her messenger bag, his lavender eyes sparkling with mischief. "Is it time?" he asked eagerly.

"Yeah. You sure about going in alone?"

"Mmhm! Only Wayzz has the ability to sense the auras of other kwamis, so Nooroo shouldn't be able to tell I'm active, and I have greater stamina alone than when I'm working with my Chosen, even if the illusion isn't as perfect."

"You're _sure_ no one will see you?"

"Who do you take me for?" Trixx rolled his eyes, trying to look affronted, but he couldn't quite pull it off with that adorable little tail wiggle of his; he was too excited.

In spite of her nerves, Alya managed to smile. It was hard not to; Trixx's energy was just too infectious. She glanced around the little park, ensuring that nobody was around, then nodded to her little kwami friend, holding her hands out like a screen as he floated into the open and twirled into her curly ombre hair. When she passed him her phone, she could actually _feel _the soft ripple of power that swirled around her fingertips. His weight left her shoulder, and a moment later she could see the slightest shimmer of light, like a kwami sized-mirage, float past her.

"Good luck," she whispered as she reached into her bag and pulled out her tablet.

"That's Tikki's job," replied the disembodied whisper, and she had to stifle a giggle.

A few minutes later, they were ready. Her tablet was pulled up to the new private blog she had created specifically for this mission, her wireless earbuds were in, and the live-stream was ready. Then all she could do was wait, her fingers rapping against her bouncing knee, until the moment her screen suddenly lit up. She jumped and quickly pushed play, watching the scene from her phone's camera unfold.

It would seem that Trixx had managed to slip inside Adrien's bedroom, probably through the window. Made sense that it would be unlocked if that had been his entry point as Chat Noir. Pretty sloppy of Hawkmoth not to think of that, though. Then again, considering the actions some of his akumatized villains had taken, Alyawas willing to bet that such overlooked details reflected that fashion tycoons probably didn't get trained on how to be a good supervillain when they went through design school.

Judging by the angle, the little fox kwami was hidden in one of the corners by the ceiling. There were two figures in the room: a giant of a man in a formal coat, standing in front of the bathroom door, and a stick of a woman with a red stripe in her hair facing him.

The Gorilla and Nathalie.

Nathalie was speaking. Of course she was, the Gorilla never spoke. Alya quickly turned up the volume, listening intently.

"…ke sure he's eating his meals. And remember that he's not allowed out, under any circumstances."

The Gorilla nodded ponderously, but to Alya's reporter-trained eyes, it seemed obvious that he had reservations. His brows were too furrowed, his lips pressed too thinly together. Obviously he thought that Adrien being locked in the bathroom was too extreme a punishment for whatever Gabriel had claimed he'd done. Nathalie, on the other hand, looked just as unperturbed as ever. Her expression practically blank, her eyes dark. Alya's heart leapt as Trixx crept closer, anxiety for her friend flying through her, but she couldn't deny that Trixx's choice was informative. Because in truth, there may have been just the faintest thread of anger behind those eyes, but also something strangely akin to pleasure.

_Nathalie knows, _she realized, a sick dread curling in her stomach. _She knows about Hawkmoth, and she's _helping _him! She doesn't care about Adrien, she's just doing whatever Gabriel tells her! Or… or could she be in on it even deeper? We still don't know who Mayura is, just that she's a woman. Could it be… could she be Nathalie?_ She filed away that thought for later; it was too much to ponder for now.

"If that is all, then I'll be on my way," Nathalie continued, spinning on her high heels and marching towards the bedroom door. There was slightly vertigo-inducing lurch as Trixx hurried after her, zipping across the room and hovering close to the jamb to slip through after her.

He got a lucky break when the Gorilla grunted unexpectedly just as Nathalie was opening the door. She turned back with one eyebrow quirked, holding the door open just wide enough for Trixx to slip through. Of course that meant that Alya couldn't see Gorilla's expression, but she heard Nathalie's clipped response.

"No, Monsieur Agreste is not taking visitors. He's still too distraught."

Alya could only assume that he responded in some nonverbal way, because a moment later Nathalie stepped through the door and clicked it closed. Then she took a deep breath, smoothed her hair into her bun, and strode down the hall of the mansion towards Gabriel Agreste's office. Trixx tracked her carefully; to Alya it seemed that he was hardly breathing. This time, slipping through the door was a much closer call than before; Trixx barely made it before the door clicked shut millimeters away from his tail. It took a few seconds for the camera to refocus, but when it did, Alya blinked in surprise.

In all of her fantasies of what Hawkmoth's true identity would be like, Alya had to admit that she'd never imagined Gabriel Agreste sprawled in an office chair, his glasses held in one hand while the other rubbed his forehead just above the bridge of his nose. In that moment, he just looked like a tired old man.

She was snapped out of it when Nathalie stepped around the chair and, bizarrely, slipped her arms over her boss's shoulders, hugging him from the rear. Alya almost gagged. Was _this _why she was helping him? Did she have some kind of… _thing_ for the guy? Were they like… _together?_

"Is he comfortable?"

"Fairly, sir."

"Good. Thank you, Nathalie, for dealing with that… unpleasantness," Gabriel sighed, his hand falling away from his eyes.

"Of course. I understand it's hard for you, finding that your son was fighting against you, and your dream, all this time."

They fell silent for a time, and Nathalie gradually pulled away. "What do I do now, Nathalie?"

"You fulfill the promise you made," she replied immediately.

"But can I really do that, if it will tear my family apart even further?"

"Once Adrien has his mother back, he will understand. He will know that you made the right choice."

Gabriel paused, staring upwards, directly into Alya's eyes, and she froze before she remembered that they were separated by a camera lens and there was no way that he could see her. She almost didn't hear his next words through her sigh of relief.

"Yes, of course. You're right, Nathalie, as always."

He rose to his feet and strode out the door, forcing Trixx to rush after him once again, dodging the ponderous swing of the heavy wood.

"What are you planning to do next, sir?"

"I cannot in good conscience -" Alya snorted before she could stop herself "- resort to extreme methods to extract the Ring's location from Adrien, but the boy's emotions have also been shockingly stable over the past twenty-four hours, so I cannot akumatize him and then send him to collect it for me, either. So I will have to resort to the old-fashioned way."

"I see, sir. Do you think that Ladybug has obtained it yet?"

"That's the secondary purpose of this exercise; to find out how much Adrien was able to tell her before his… retrieval."

_You mean capture, jerkwad, _Alya growled mentally, watching as he strode into the main receiving room of the mansion, past a large desk, to the painting of Madame Agreste hanging on the wall. From there, Alya watched with wide eyes as Gabriel pressed a series of hidden buttons in the painting, opening up a passage in the wall.

She hated to admit that it was cool, but… Well that would be lying, and superheroes weren't supposed to lie.

Trixx filmed them both entering the passageway, all the way until it closed behind them. "Okay, we've confirmed that Hawkmoth's lair is somewhere within the mansion and that Adrien is being held in his bathroom, apparently. I'm gonna come back now so that you can warn Ladybug about the incoming akuma. You should probably warn her to play dumb about Chat, too."

"Right, sure," Alya replied, then blushed as she realized that Trixx couldn't hear her. She watched the dizzying blur of motion as the little fox kwami zipped through the air and made it out of some window or another.

Then he surprised her when, instead of coming straight back, Trixx flew low to the rooftop and darted down to a window that for some reason had bars across it. Alya caught her breath, her heart constricting as the image Trixx wanted her to see came into focus.

Adrien Agreste lay on his side, eyes closed, curled up in the bathtub like a cat in a cardboard box, a length of blue fabric clutched in his hands and pressed to his face. In spite of herself, Alya's heart lifted a little and a faint smile touched her lips as she recognized it. Then the view disappeared as Trixx zipped away, rushing back to her side.


	7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

His fingers curled even more tightly in the soft fabric. He opened his eyes marginally, taking in the beautiful shade of blue.

The same color as her eyes.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

With his vastly enhanced sense of smell from his time as Chat Noir, even the passing of two years was not enough to erase her scent. It was the only thing keeping him together. The only thing protecting him from his father's control.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Honey and vanilla, with accents of chocolate and cinnamon and just the faintest hint of freshly baked bread.

The scent that inexplicably meant "home".

Marinette's scent.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

He wasn't sure when that had started, when he had begun thinking of Marinette as home. He'd felt guilty at first; shouldn't his Lady be home? Shouldn't she hold his loyalty first and foremost? But he couldn't deny the strange sense of calm, of peace that washed over him every time he stepped into her room. It had confused him, but also intrigued him. That was why he'd started visiting her more often as Chat Noir, since she didn't seem comfortable around Adrien, trying to figure out just what it was about Marinette that made him feel that way.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

It wasn't long after that when he'd first noticed her scent lingering on his scarf. That had confused him, too; why would Marinette have handled his _father's_ birthday gift? He couldn't easily ask Marinette about it, so instead he'd gone to Alya, trying to find the connection between the sweet, shy designer and his favorite scarf.

What he found out had floored him.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

_Marinette _had made this for him. She had tried to give it to him. Somehow there was a mixup. And she hadn't said a word, simply because she had wanted him to be happy.

No one had been that considerate of him, of _Adrien, _since his mother had disappeared. No one had cared enough to see a lonely boy, desperate for his father's affection, buried behind a model's plastered smile.

No one, except for her. Somehow, she had recognized it, and as shy as she was of him, she had tried to help him smile for real.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

He'd never managed to work up the courage to thank her, but he'd tried to compensate in other ways, working hard to help her be more comfortable around him. It had been making a difference, too. She'd finally stopped stuttering, although a faint blush often touched her cheeks when they interacted.

He'd only recently admitted to himself that it was kind of cute.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

He tried not to wonder what she must think of him, now that she knew the truth. He cared about her opinion of him a lot more than he wanted to admit.

Heck, he cared about _her _a lot more than he wanted to admit.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

He couldn't let his father know that he had given her the ring. Even if she _had _passed it off to Ladybug by now - and he hadn't the slightest doubt that she had, resourceful girl that she was - he would never forgive himself if she became a target.

So he would lie here, smothering his fears in honey, and drowning his sorrows in vanilla, burying his emotions under a soil of chocolate and cinnamon, somewhere too deep for his father to manipulate them.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

So long as he had the scent of home to sustain him, he would make it through.


	8. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

The moment Marinette slipped through her skylight, she collapsed on the bed, her transformation disappearing in a flash of pink light. Immediately, not one but two kwamis were by her side, Plagg nuzzling into her neck while Tikki stroked her hair out of her face.

"Just breathe, Marinette," Tikki crooned gently. "I know that was a hard fight, but you kept it together very well out there."

"Yeah, you did good, kid," Plagg agreed, a low purr shaking his entire body. "Adrien would be proud of you."

Marinette squeezed her eyes shut, her fingers clenching in her pillow. "I miss him," she whispered, choking back a sob. "I can't do this on my own."

"You're _not _alone, Marinette," Tikki reminded her firmly. "You have all your friends behind you, you have Master Fu, and you have us: me and Plagg, and Trixx, Wayzz, and Pollen, too."

"I know that, but I… I just…" she burrowed her face into her pillow, struggling to breathe past the tears.

"We know, Marinette. We understand. Plagg and I are yin and yang; neither of us is complete without the other. It's always the same for our Chosens. You need each other, and that's why we're going to get him back."

She didn't answer. She couldn't. She was already shaking. The tears were leaking from her eyes. So she curled into a ball and just sobbed, releasing all of the pain and the frustration and the _horribleness _of that fight into her down pillow while her two little kwami friends offered her what comfort they could.

She couldn't keep this up on her own. She needed Chat back. This was only the second akuma since he'd disappeared and already she knew that she couldn't keep pretending not to know where he was or what had happened to him. All she wanted to do was scream at Hawkmoth. _Throttle_ him. Gloat that she knew who he was and what he had done, and demand to have Chat back. To have _Adrien_ back.

Had it really only been a day? A day since she had discovered that Chat Noir and Adrien were one and the same, a day since she had learned her idol was her mortal enemy, a day since she had revealed herself as Ladybug to Alya, Nino, and Chloe, a day since Alya had discovered at least part of the secret of Hawkmoth's hideout, a day since she had sent her the horrible screenshot of Adrien, huddled on the floor, her scarf wrapped around his face.

She was having a hard time breathing again.

Marinette hardly even heard the knock against her trapdoor, nor the voice that cautiously asked if its owner could come in, but she did flinch slightly when she heard Tikki giving her permission. She was halfway onto her elbows when she recognized the dark, curly hair and understood why Plagg and Tikki weren't making any attempt to hide themselves.

"Hey Alya," she mumbled, dashing the tears from her eyes as she pushed herself into a sitting position.

"Hey, hunny," her BFF replied, closing the trapdoor so that Trixx could zip out of her hair and tackle Tikki and Plagg in a hug. Alya tracked them with her eyes for a few moments, then turned back to her. There was a light of sympathy in her eyes, but she knew better than to bring it up. "I have some good news," she smiled, climbing up the ladder to join her.

"Yeah?" Marinette replied dully, pulling her legs up to her chest and resting her chin on her knees.

"Trixx and I found Hawkmoth's lair."

Marinette's head snapped up, her eyes suddenly bright, adrenaline coursing through her veins. "Where?" she demanded.

"An observatory at the Agreste mansion. There's a window shaped vaguely like a butterfly that opens and closes with the akuma attacks. It doesn't look well defended, but it would shock me if there weren't a few surprises. But it looks like any and all business that he does as Hawkmoth is handled there. Speaking of, we caught a glimpse of Nathalie standing there with him, and Trixx even managed to zoom in on a pin attached to her lapel that looks mysteriously like the Peacock Miraculous. My money's definitely on her being Mayura."

"So that's all we need, isn't it? Let's get the team together! Let's get Adrien out of there!"

Alya hesitated, her hazel eyes unusually dark. "Girl, I understand how desperate you are to save Adrien. Really, I do. Seeing him over my video feed… that hurt me, too, so I can only imagine how much it must have hurt you. But you need to slow down. You're no good to Adrien if you destroy yourself fighting to get him back."

"But Alya, I _have_ to get him back! Don't you understand, I _can't do this anymore!_ If I have to face another akuma without him then I'm going to snap! I can't… I can't…" She gasped, one hand pressed against her chest, panting rapidly.

"Sh, sh, hunny," Alya soothed, gently rubbing her back and drawing her into her arms. "If you keep this up, you might be the one who ends up akumatized. And where will we be then, huh? Where will _Adrien_ be then? So just breathe with me. Come on. In. Out. In. Out."

Slowly, Marinette settled, sagging into her BFF. "I'm sorry," she whispered, silent tears running down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry."

"I know. I know, baby. Just breathe. Now remember, this isn't just about getting Adrien _back_. This is about keeping him from ever being in danger again. To do that, we can't just spring him from that hellhole. We have to stop Hawkmoth, too, and you're right: you can't do that alone. But I'm also right: we can't do that if you're not in peak condition. There shouldn't be any akumas tonight since Hawkmoth already released one today, and with your wonderful performance, he shouldn't know that we're in the know about Adrien and the Ring.

"So here's what's going to happen: we're going to tell your parents that we're having a sleepover at my place tonight. We're going to Master Fu's and then I'm going to call Chloe and Nino and we're going to make a plan to take down Hawkmoth and rescue Adrien once and for all. Then Master Fu's going to give you some calming tea to help you sleep. Okay?"

Slowly, Marinette nodded, uncurling herself, fighting to remember what Tikki had said. _You are not alone._ "Okay. Let's go."

They packed up their backpacks for the sake of her maman, then slipped downstairs and left the shop after Alya asked permission for an impromptu sleepover. Maman beamed at them and told them to have a good time. Marinette forced a smile, one that she knew wasn't very bright, and they were off.

She let Alya lead; she didn't have the presence of mind to do so herself. She could hear people talking about the most recent akuma battle, speculating about where Chat Noir might be, and how desperate Ladybug had been during the fight. A few people were openly criticizing him, demanding to know where he had been when Ladybug needed him most. It was all Marinette could do to keep from snapping at them, screaming that they didn't know _anything_ and that her kitty would never abandon her.

Alya reached back and took her hand, squeezing it gently.

_You are not alone._

Marinette's grip tightened on Alya's hand, and her BFF didn't try to pull it back. She just led the way through the crowded streets, dodging every pedestrian that crossed their path, running her thumb up and down across Marinette's knuckles.

She wasn't sure if it was comforting or distressing that the action reminded her of Chat, but it certainly did heighten the insane resolution forming in her heart.

Before she knew it, they had reached Master Fu's shop. He glanced up curiously as they walked in, his grave expression melting into a smile. "I was hoping that you would visit soon," he said, rising to his feet. "It has been very quiet without Wayzz to keep me company. How goes the investigation?"

"We found Hawkmoth's lair," Alya announced, guiding Marinette into a sitting position, "as well as confirmed Mayura's identity."

"Well that is excellent news!"

"I figured we should call the team together. With any luck, we'll have this finished by the end of the week."

"Tomorrow."

"What?"

Marinette looked up at Alya, channelling all of her passion and determination into her words. No way in hell was she waiting that long. She was going to get Adrien back or die trying. "Tomorrow. Our biggest advantage right now is the element of surprise. If we wait any longer, then we risk losing that. This ends tomorrow."

Alya blinked at her a couple of times, then grinned in a way that reminded Marinette of why she had chosen her as the wielder of the Fox Miraculous to begin with. "Now there's a Ladybug that can save her kitty. Come on, let's call the others."


	9. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Adrien was grateful that the Gorilla didn't seem to be in on his father's plot as Hawkmoth, because it meant that he was a little bit more lenient with him than he ought to be. That was how he'd managed to get his blue scarf to begin with, as well as his duvan and one of his pillows, instead of the spare blanket and pillow that Nathalie had tried to give him as bedding.

Who knew that the woman could be so petty?

Either way, he was glad to have _some_ kind of bedding with him. After all, there wasn't much to do in a bathroom except catnap.

Leaving Plagg with Marinette hadn't done anything to most of his more cattish tendencies, among them his somewhat more nocturnal nature and his love of stretching out to sleep in the sun. Of course, it didn't really matter. No matter how cattish he may be, without the ring, Adrien wasn't really Chat Noir anymore.

It was thoughts like that that had Adrien reaching for his blue scarf on a regular basis. He couldn't let his emotions get away from him or he would be akumatized, and that would put all of Paris in incredible danger. So instead of thinking, he slept during the day, the blue scarf clutched in his hands close to his face in the hope that Marinette's scent would help him avoid a situation like Sandboy.

Still, he found that sleeping was the safest option, and so he resisted anything that might wake him up. When dark dreams startled him awake, he pressed the blue scarf even closer to his nose, breathing deeply until he drifted back off to sleep. When the sun slid away from him, taking his patch of warmth with it, he just huddled deeper underneath his duvan. When he distantly heard the first crash of an akuma, he cringed and pressed his pillow over his ears, because he knew that there was nothing he could do about it.

But when he first heard the scratching, he could feel his phantom cat ears perk up and twitch towards the sound, his curiosity instantly piqued. Of course the human side of him groaned miserably, wanting to roll over and just sleep, but he couldn't ignore the strange sound. After all, curiosity killed the cat, right?

Adrien blinked blearily awake, lifting himself up on one elbow as he stared around the small room. Where could that be coming from? Could there be mice in the walls? No, it was coming from higher up than that.

The scratching continued, perhaps even a little bit more insistently now, and Adrien slowly rose to his feet, his Miraculous-enhanced eyes flickering around the room. It seemed to be coming from the wall farthest from the door, so he stepped cautiously in that direction, his unshod feet making no noise on the tile. As he passed the shifted patch of sunlight lying across the floor he glanced at it wistfully, wishing the sun would just stay still for once.

Then he stiffened, staring in surprise as one of the shadows across the patch literally _crumbled_.

In an instant, Adrien's eyes snapped up towards the window where, to his shock, he found that nearly all of the bars that Nathalie had installed in order to make sure he stayed put had disappeared. Even as he watched, there came another sound of tell-tale scratching, then a wave of rust coated the last bar and it turned to dust.

Adrien felt the color drain from his face. He knew _exactly_ what caused that kind of destructive energy.

"Pst! Kid!"

"_Plagg?!_" Adrien hissed back, and a moment later a little black head popped up over the sill, green eyes gleaming and tiny fangs bared in a grin. "What the heck are you _doing_ here?! Get back to Ladybug!"

"What, and miss out on all the action that's going down over here?" Plagg snorted back, rolling his eyes. "Come on, kid. We're getting you out of here."  
"Wait… What?"

"What, did you think we were here for the Gorilla?"

"No, it's just… _we?_"

"Would you just hurry up, Sunshine? We're on a deadline, here!" a new voice hissed, causing Adrien to jump.

"Rena, is that you?" he whispered back after a moment.

"Duh. Who else knows how to hack into a camera feed and slip a loop into the system so that your evil dad and his assistant wouldn't be able to tell you'd woken up yet?"

"Come again?"

"Just get out here," came the weary sigh.

In spite of himself, Adrien couldn't help but smile. He quickly climbed the steps to the window, then took the black-gloved hand offered to him and allowed his teammate to help him step out onto the stone ledge and pull him firmly against her side; without his Miraculous, a fall from this height would _hurt._

Rena Rouge grinned at him as Plagg settled on his shoulder, curling against his neck in a way that clearly screamed _mine!_ "Ready for this, Sunshine?"

"Probably not," Adrien admitted, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. And why did that nickname seem so out of place yet make so much sense falling from the Fox hero's lips?

"Fair enough."

Rena Rouge leaped upwards, dodging expertly past all of the security cameras that his father had so painstakingly set their house up with. At the very top of the building, she stopped, setting Adrien down next to a crouched figure with a green hood and relieved golden eyes.

"Dude," he sighed with obvious relief, rising to his feet and wrapping him in a tight hug. "I thought we'd lost you, man."

"Good to see you too, Carapace," Adrien grunted through his squashed lungs, a little bit stunned by his fellow hero's reaction. After all, hadn't they only interacted a couple of times before now?

"Dude, I _still_ can't believe that I didn't see it sooner! I mean, I always knew you were secretly the biggest pun-loving dork in the _world_ next to Chat Noir, but now I know you _are_ Chat Noir and it makes _so much freaking sense-!_"

"Would you just put him down and hand him the ring?" Rena rolled her eyes, pulling what looked like a spy gear headset from her flute. "We can worry about identity reveals once this is over." She slipped the earpiece over her ear, pressing the foxtail-shaped symbol on the side. If that was her phone, then Adrien had to admit he was just the slightest bit jealous. It probably didn't have a photo or video function, though.

Wait. What was that about identity reveals?

"Here, man. I believe this is yours," Carapace distracted him with a grin, holding out what looked like a piece of leather cord, looped through a wide silver ring.

For the first time in days, the tension leaked out of Adrien's shoulders as he accepted the precious gift, tugging the knot out of the cord and slipping it onto his finger. He could feel the soft rumble as Plagg purred approvingly, while off to one side he could hear Rena Rouge speaking quickly into her microphone.

"Ladybug and Queen Bee, we're in position. Chat has the Miraculous back and we're about ready to go." She glanced towards him, one eyebrow cocked. "Well, you just going to stand there, or are we finally going to end this madness?"

It ashamed Adrien to admit, but just for an instant, he hesitated. Hawkmoth was his _father,_ and the reason why he'd done all this, the reason why he had terrorized Paris and searched for the Miraculous for so long was because of his desperation to save his mother. Could he really fight against him now after so many years of settling back and doing whatever it was the man told him to do? Was it really alright for him to turn his back on _both_ of his parents?

But then he glanced up at Carapace and Rena Rouge, at the gentle understanding and the fierce determination burning in their eyes, and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the decision that he had made in the rain not so long ago had been the right one.

He could do this.

He _would_ do this.

For his Lady.

For his mother.

For _himself_.

"Claws out."


	10. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

"Okay, I'm a minute from the mansion. Go, Bee!"

Chloe ducked another swing from the latest akuma as she brought her cell phone to her ear. "You got it, Ladybug!" she called, whipping her top back into her hand. "Venom!"

Immediately she felt the rush of power flood her body, churning with all of her spite and raw fury and concentrating into the needle of her top. In an instant, she went from purely defensive to full-on offense, rushing forward and stabbing Hawkmoth's would-be trump card in his side.

Instantly, the bear-themed monster staggered, eyes wide, gasping in a breath before it went still. The crowd cheered, and it was tempting to stand there and bask in their praise as they glanced around curiously for Ladybug, but Chloe knew that their red-clad superheroine wasn't coming.

They had a bigger butterfly to catch than this small fry, and she had to run.

Snatching the akumatized object from the bear, Chloe leapt to the rooftops, leaving the akuma victim frozen for the time being as she sprinted towards Master Fu's dingy little medicine shop. He was waiting for her at the door, his expression grave. Without a word, he accepted the akumatized object and took it inside for safe-keeping, leaving her to get as close to the Agreste Mansion as she could before her time ran out.

"Guys, I'm on my way. I have three minutes left on my timer."

"Rena's illusion ends in ninety seconds. Hurry, Bee!"

Pollen finally flashed back into view a few blocks away from the mansion and dove straight into her purse to rip open the honey sticks that Chloe had shoved there. She could hear explosions and the police that Ladybug had asked to be on standby screaming towards the commotion as she glanced at her phone. Assuming Carapace activated his shield around when Rena's illusion went down, she probably only had a minute left. She forced herself to run faster.

"Pollen!" Chloe cried, shoving her way past the nonplussed bystanders as the mansion came into sight.

"Ready, my Queen!"

"Buzz on!"

People gasped, flinching back as the flash of yellow light surrounded her entire body. She leaped skyward and the ground fell away, giving her a perfect view of the flash of green light flying through the window, then heard another explosion, a cry of "No!", two sets of laughter and the ragged beating of wings. A moment later, she landed on the ledge just outside of the predictably butterfly-themed window, taking in the scene in a matter of seconds.

Hawkmoth and Mayura stood with their backs towards the window, a giant moth hovering around their heads, while Ladybug and Chat Noir desperately defended against the rockets and bullets flying out of the walls and a newly-recharged (and very possibly exposed if Carapace hadn't gotten the shield up in time) Rena Rouge carefully lowered the exhausted and evidently injured Carapace to the ground.

Chloe growled softly. "Venom."

Mayura turned too late as Chloe launched forward, stabbing her weapon deeply into the woman's shoulder. She gasped, her pink eyes blowing almost comically wide as her breath froze in her lungs along with the monster defending Hawkmoth.

"Nathalie!" Hawkmoth cried, whirling towards the bee-themed hero with his cane raised, but it was too late. Chloe's top flew upwards, catching the cane and yanking it out of the supervillain's grip. She grinned, pleased that she had disarmed him.

Only to find that he still held a wickedly sharp rapier in his hand, evidently drawn from the end of the cane. Hawkmoth's eyes gleamed in a way that could only be described as manic as he raised the sword. Chloe quickly tugged on the string of her top, only to find that it was still tangled around the cane, which had gotten jammed in one of the panels that had opened to reveal the room's defense system.

"Sh-!"

"Language, Chlo!"

Chloe startled, gaping up at the black-clad superhero that had intercepted both her and Hawkmoth at once.

"Adri- Chat!" she yelped as he forced his father backwards.

"Adrichat? Well, I like it better than Adrikins, but you probably shouldn't call me that at school, okay?"

"Ugh, would you for once try to take things seriously you mangy alley cat?" Chloe grumbled.

"There she is," he flashed a grin over his shoulder, but, knowing now who he was, Chloe could tell that it was strained. That behind Chat Noir's mask, Adrien was hurting. "Get her Miraculous! Hurry!"

"R-Right!" Queen Bee squeaked, hurrying to the frozen Mayura and tugging the pin from her costume.

An instant later, the giant moth fluttering above their heads vanished in a flash of blue light, and Nathalie Sancoeur collapsed to the floor with a low moan of pain.

Served her right.

"Bee!" Rena Rouge cried over Hawkmoth's howl of rage.

"What now?!"

"Grab Nathalie and Carapace and get them out of here!"

"What! Why?!"

"Carapace is too hurt to fight! We can't defend him and go all out!" Ladybug called back. "And Nathalie's too much of a wild card! You need to take her to the police, they should be there by now!"

"Yeah, but why _moi?_"

"Because you're the only one who can! You're Queen Bee, but you have the added weight if being Chloe Bourgeois, too! Now _go!_"

Chloe couldn't deny that she was somewhat flattered by Ladybug's assertion, even though the cynical side of her hissed that this was _Marinette_ _Dupain-Cheng_ and she just wanted her out of the way so that she could steal all the glory. Then the Queen Bee in her, the side most influenced by Pollen, reminded her that she'd just used Venom for the second time in the last ten minutes. This wasn't just vanity.

Ladybug was worried about her.

It was that oddly-flattering reassurance that sent Chloe rushing to Rena Rouge's side and lifting Carapace onto her back, shrugging the boy's shield over her shoulder. Then she sprinted back to Nathalie - dodging a rocket and a spray of bullets from a mini gun on the way - and slung the woman much less ceremoniously over her other shoulder.

"Don't you dare die while I'm gone," she snapped, making eye-contact with Ladybug as she paused by the window.

"Don't kill anyone while you're gone," Ladybg grinned back breathlessly, leaping over another stream of bullets while her yoyo flew outward to catch the nose of another rocket and fling it skyward, blowing a hole in the roof.

She took care of Carapace first, laying him gently down on a nearby rooftop just as he lost his transformation where they'd all hidden some extra treats for their kwamis as a precaution.

"Will he be okay?" Chloe asked softly as Wayzz twirled into view and placed a limb gently against the boy's forehead.

The kwami nodded, relief shining in his eyes. "It's not too serious. You'd best hurry, Miss Bourgeois. I'll care for my Chosen."

Chloe nodded, rising to her feet.

"Oh, and Miss Bourgeois?"

"Yeah?"

"Leave the Peafowl with me as well, please. There's something I would like to check."

"Sure, whatever," Chloe shrugged, placing the pin on the ground in front of him.

She leaped down to the Agreste Mansion steps just as her comb reminded her that she was down to two minutes.

"Mmlle. Bou- That is, Queen Bee! What's going on?" Officer Raincomprix called anxiously, rushing up the steps.

"Arrest this woman at once," Queen Bee replied briskly. "She is the notorious Mayura, known accomplice of the villain Hawkmoth."

"Wh- But, Ms. Bourgeois -!"

"That's _Queen Bee_ to you, Officer! Now I really must hurry back and assist the rest of my team in taking down Hawkmoth once and for all."

"H-Hawkmoth? He's here?!"

"That's what I just said, isn't it? Now hurry up and create a perimeter, or whatever it is you law people do! We can't afford to let him escape again!"

Her comb beeped again. One minute.

"Hurry!" she snapped, then dumped Nathalie into the hapless Officer Raincomprix's arms and threw her top to launch her back to the rooftop where she'd left Nino.

The DJ had regained consciousness by the time she arrived, and he glanced up with a rueful smile just as her transformation rolled off of her.

"Never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad you're here, Chloe. There's no way we could've lasted if you hadn't arrived."

"Spare me the sarcasm," Chloe grumbled as she caught Pollen, hoping that he couldn't see the pink in her cheeks. "Now do you think we could hurry up and get back into the fight?"

Nino chuckled weakly. "Yes, Your Highness," he smiled, throwing a weary salute.

Chloe hesitated, then sat down beside him, plucking a pair of honey sticks from the little lunchbox that Wayzz sat on top of, munching on a piece of… lettuce? Pollen accepted them gratefully, sipping the honey delicately.

Chloe opened her mouth, then closed it again. Pollen smiled up at her with her huge blue eyes, prompting her to try again. "For what it's worth," Chloe muttered, "I'm glad you're not dead, Shellhead."

Nino stared at her, stunned, for a solid ten seconds before he laughed. "That might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me," he chuckled.

"Yeah, well don't get used to it," Chloe grumbled, turning to glare at the mansion once again.

She could still hear explosions. Unfortunately all that she could do now was hope that they could hold out until she and Nino got back.


	11. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Adrien was exhausted. Every swing of Hawkmoth's sword numbed his hands a little more. Every glance of his eyes numbed his heart.

How could he not have _seen_ it? His father's rapid descent into despair? His desperation? His frantic obsession?

It wasn't madness, although Adrien wished it could be. If it were, then he could believe that it wasn't his fault. That there were circumstances beyond their control.

But those gray-blue eyes were too cold. Too calculating. His father knew exactly what he was doing. He had planned it all from the start. They held no regret. Only resignation.

And Adrien hadn't paid enough attention to notice. He'd acted too late to save him. All that was left was to stop him.

Somewhere in the distance he could hear Rena Rouge's flute and the cry of "Mirage!" ringing through the old observatory.

Immediately, Adrien found himself surrounded by dozens of illusions of himself and the other members of his team, each charging at Hawkmoth in a coordinated attack. It was the same illusion that she had used before, and Hawkmoth snarled in frustration as Adrien lost himself in it, darting in whenever he saw an opening. The real Rena - _Alya_, he'd come to find out while they huddled under Carapace's shield and Trixx scarfed down beef jerky like no one's business - joined him, forcing his father to block every attack, just in case it was actually real, stretching him thinner than ever now that he had lost Mayura and the monster that she had created.

"You can't stop me, Chat Noir! Rena Rouge! Ladybug! Carapace! Queen Bee! I will defeat you, and I will get your Miraculouses!"

"Alright seriously, is that all you know how to say?" Rena Rouge grumbled, cartwheeling elegantly out of the supervillain's reach. "Just face it: it's over _Gabriel._ You can't beat all five of us, especially now that you're down a partner."

"I can! I can and I will!"

"Ugh, just shut up already!" Chlo's voice rang out, just as her top flashed out of nowhere and slammed into his back, providing the perfect opportunity for Rena to leap in and crack her flute across the side of Hawkmoth's head. Adrien hesitated, then he ran in, too, baton twirling in his grasp.

That moment of hesitation almost cost him dearly, as Hawkmoth had the time to shake off his dizziness and dodge Chat's initial strike, raising his sword to counterattack.

Out of nowhere, Ladybug's yoyo flew through the air, clanging against the rapier and sending it careening off course.

"You alright, Chat?" she panted, landing beside him.

"Better, now you're here, m'Lady," he flashed what he hoped was a smirk in her direction. "You take care of the defense system then?"

"Carapace is finishing off the last of it," she replied, and for the first time he noticed the green clad superhero standing on the other side of the room, his shield flying Captain America style as it smashed through three different guns.

"He's sure enjoying himself."

"I think he considers it payback or something."

"Figures. So, let's-"

Ladybug caught his shoulder, forcing him to look at her while Rena, Bee, and the illusions pressed the attack. "Chaton, are you _sure_ you're okay?"

He hesitated, gazing into those beautiful, bluebell eyes that had so captured him when they first met.

He'd never been able to lie to her.

"No, m'Lady. I'm not sure at all."

Her grip tightened on his shoulder. "You don't have to stay for this, Minou. We can handle it from here."

"I know. But I have to stay, Ladybug. This isn't just about stopping Hawkmoth anymore, not for me. I have to be the one to do this."

"You have _nothing_ to prove to us. You know that, right?"

"Of course I know that. But there are some things that I need to prove to myself."

Ladybug's hand fell to his elbow. Her eyes were kind. Understanding. "Okay. Just don't take any unnecessary risks. I need you, Chat."

"I know you do," Adrien replied, trying for a cheeky grin, one that would lighten the mood.

"I don't think you do, Kitty," she murmured, her eyes unbelievably soft.

He instantly turned fire engine red.

Then she gently pulled him down, going up on her toes to kiss his cheek, right at the corner of his mouth.

He was pretty sure there was steam coming out of his ears when she smiled shyly at him and leaped back into the fight.

He might have stood there all day, blinking dazedly into the distance and trying to remember what his name was, had Carapace not jumped in, lifting his shield to block a wayward strike from Chloe.

"Careful, Queenie!" he yelled.

"Not my fault he dodged it!"

"Come on Adrien, snap out of it! We need you on this one!"

"R-Right," Adrien stammered, shaking himself.

He hefted his baton, his gaze dancing about the room. Practically all of the illusions had vanished now, and Rena was down to her last minute. Queen Bee was fighting hard, but she was clearly exhausted; he doubted that she and Pollen could manage a third Venom attack. Carapace and Wayzz might still have a Shelter in them, and he and Ladybug had yet to use their Lucky Charm or Cataclysm.

But Hawkmoth was still holding his own. A snarl curled his lips as his rapier flashed one direction then another, blocking and dodging strike after strike by his friends. Even as he watched, Rena Rouge's transformation disappeared in a flash of orange light, and an instant later Alya was thrown across the room by a powerful kick to her gut. Carapace leaped in, catching her before she hit the wall, then reluctantly left her to recover when she waved him away.

Now they were down to four.

They had to finish this, and fast.

Adrien charged in with a shout, taking Hawkmoth's rapier with his baton as Ladybug skipped back out of range. His flurry of blows forced the man back, giving his team a much needed breather. He shot a glance back towards Ladybug, and when their eyes met, she nodded once.

"Lucky Charm!" her voice rang through the space, the brilliant red magic flying from the end of her yoyo.

He didn't have a chance to see what the item was that fell into her hands. He was too busy countering each strike, giving his Lady a chance to figure out how to use whatever it was. There came a moment when he and his father stood practically chest to chest, each straining to gain the upper hand, emerald green eyes boring into gray-blue.

"Why?" Adrien gasped. "Why was this the only way?"

"You don't think that I tried others?" Hawkmoth - _Gabriel Agreste_ \- snarled back, his eyes momentarily filling with pain. "You don't think I exhausted every other option before seeking out the Miraculous?"

"I think you gave up!" Adrien snapped back, shoving his father backwards another step. "You lost hope! You were so focused on what you'd lost that you forgot all about what you still had!"

"You think I forgot about you, Adrien? I was doing this _for _you! Don't you want your mother back?!"

"Of course I do! But she wouldn't want to come back like this! She wouldn't want to come back and find that the husband she loved became a monster! There _has _to be another way!"

"_There is no other way!_"

"You're _wrong!_ There's _always _another way!"

"What would you know?! You're just a child! You couldn't possibly understand just how desperately I searched for a way to save her! This is my last hope, Adrien, and no one will stand in my way, not even you!"

"Chat, his sword!" Ladybug's voice cried.

Adrien countered another strike, then his hand shot outwards, the gloves fingers of his right hand wrapping around the blade of his father's weapon.

"Cataclysm!"

Hawkmoth's shriek of rage as his sword turned to dust in his hand was nothing compared to the howls when both Ladybug's yoyo and Queen Bee's top wrapped around him, effectively pinning his arms to his side. A moment later, Carapace leaped in as well, a red-and-black spotted rope clutched in his hands before he tied up the struggling Hawkmoth with it.

"You wanna do the honors, bro?" Carapace called, glowering at the man.

Adrien hesitated, glancing towards Ladybug. Her eyes were still so soft, gently urging him forward. Chat Noir took a deep breath, then stepped forward and ripped the Moth brooch from his father's shirt.

His howl of rage and despair echoed through the observatory as a purple light exploded around him, then congealed in the air above the Miraculous, where a small purple kwami with butterfly wings took shape.

"Nooroo! Attack them!" he shrieked. "Make them release me!"

Nooroo sadly shook his head. "You no longer possess my Miraculous, Gabriel Agreste. You are no longer my master."

"Nooroo! _Nooroo!_"

The little kwami didn't seem to hear him. He just closed his eyes and vanished back into the brooch.

"_NO!_ This is not over! It will _never_ be over!"

"Oh just give it a rest, _Gabe_," Alya groaned, walking over and tucking her phone into her back pocket. "It _is_ over, whether you like it or not."

Ladybug nodded in agreement, releasing her yoyo now that she was certain Hawkmoth couldn't slip free. "Carapace, would you take Monsieur Agreste to the police?"

"Sure thing, Ladybug," Carapace replied, hauling the suddenly-boneless Monsieur Hawkmoth to his feet and slinging him over his shoulder.

"Queen Bee, could you take Alya to recharge?"

"But -"

"I'd like a moment alone with Chat, if that's alright."

Queen Bee glared at Ladybug for a few seconds - something Adrien never thought he'd see - then sighed wearily, walking over and wrapping an arm around Alya's waist. "Fine," she grumbled.

"Thank you."

He watched the four of them leave, trying to identify the strange swirl of emotions in his chest. He was more than a little startled when he felt the gentle hand on his arm and turned to look straight into Ladybug's bluebell eyes. Neither of them spoke, but they didn't need to.

A soft smile touched her lips.

The next thing he knew they were both on the ground, her arms wrapped loosely around his neck, his hands clutching her waist, his face buried against her shoulder, each breath sharp and hitched in his throat. Pressed against her as he was, the insistent beeping of her earrings rang loudly in his ears, sending a sharp spike of fear through his chest. His hands tightened instinctively against her sides, unable to speak, but pleading for her to hear him just the same.

_Don't leave me. Don't leave me. Don't leave me._

He was more than a little surprised when her arms tightened around him in silent reassurance, and she made no indication to leave, instead pulling him into her lap where her scent - the scent that magic had always prevented him from identifying - filled his senses, relaxing all of the muscles in his arms and shoulders.

Then he felt more than saw a wash of pink light behind his eyes, and all at once the sweet scent that was _Ladybug_ became sharp and distinct and suddenly the world made _sense_ because Ladybug was honey and vanilla with accents of chocolate and cinnamon and the lingering hint of freshly baked bread and she was peace and she was safety and she was _home_, because _home_ was Marinette.

Then his own transformation rolled off of him, and that was when the tears came, spilling down his cheeks, because she was whispering that she loved him, over, and over, and over, as though they were the only words that she remembered how to say, and he couldn't speak but he squeezed her tighter as he buried her face into her hair, into her neck, drinking in her scent and willing her to understand, to hear his unspoken response: _I love you too. I love you too. I love you too._


	12. Epilogue

Epilogue

Ladybug swung through Paris as quickly as she feasibly could without drawing too much attention. She could hear the revelers down in the streets, cheering for the fall of Hawkmoth, many pointing to her and screaming their praise, but she couldn't bring herself to do more than smile and wave in their general directions.

Not when her Kitty was hurting so badly.

The impromptu news conference at the Agreste mansion was the worst part. Adrien had attended as himself, speaking only when spoken to, his eyes red and downcast, while 'Chat Noir' kept a reassuring hand on his arm. Most of Team Miraculous was also in attendance, excluding Rena Rouge, who was 'patrolling the premises'. About four minutes into the conference, Chat led Adrien inside and out of the spotlight, then he leaped out of his bedroom window to go find Rena Rouge and 'relieve her of duty', allowing the Fox hero to step in front of the cameras. Nearly an hour later, Ladybug finally put her foot down, saying that they would answer questions another day, but for now, they were battle-weary and badly in need of rest.

The team broke up after that, each scattering to their respective homes. Alya, or rather Rena Rouge, was eager to compile all of the video evidence she'd taken in the past few days to pass on to the police for Gabriel and Nathalie's trial, and Nino would be heading over to join her after he ran interference with his parents. Chloe would be helping to organize the massive party that Mayor Bourgeois had spontaneously announced would be held in honor of Team Miraculous that weekend.

And Marinette hurried to where she knew he would be waiting.

She released her transformation moments after she landed on her balcony. Tikki immediately zipped to Plagg's side, taking the kwami's paw and pulling him into the room below. But Marinette's gaze was focused on the weary blond boy that glanced up at her from his seat on her lounge, a sad smile lifting the corners of his mouth.

She didn't speak. She just sat beside him and slipped her arm around his waist, leaning into his side. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close enough that she was practically in his lap. She didn't mind though. He needed this. He needed _her_.

That warmed her heart more than she wanted to admit.

"What…" She glanced up, surprised at the sound of his voice. Adrien swallowed hard, blinking back his tears. "What do I do now, Mari?" he whispered.

Marinette paused, considering the question. "You keep searching," she replied. "You keep searching for a way to save her. An honest way."

"And until I find it? What do I do? Father's gone. Nathalie's gone. The closest thing to a guardian that I have left is the Gorilla, and we're not exactly… close."

"You could -" Marinette hesitated, her cheeks flushing slightly as he glanced towards her, his emerald eyes even brighter for the redness around them. She took a deep breath, then forged ahead. "You could stay with me? I know we don't have a ton of room, or at least not as much as you're used to, and I know that it's maybe a little awkward since, you know, we don't actually know each other all _that_ well, and I haven't asked my parents yet, but you know, if you want to, you could… maybe… live here?"

She was staring a hole into the ground at that point, blushing furiously, berating herself as a coward for not being able to look him in the eye as she suggested it. She wanted him to stay; he was her _partner_, her _best friend_. Why was it so hard to just _say _that?

She stiffened when she felt Adrien's hand brush against her cheek, taking her chin and lifting it so that her eyes would met his. Her breath hitched at the sight of his gentle smile.

The smile that had won her heart that day in the rain.

"I think that sounds perfect, Princess," he murmured, his head dipping almost instinctively towards hers. Marinette's heart raced, lifting her chin to meet him, her eyes beginning to flutter closed. Then he hesitated, a brilliant blush coloring his cheeks as he met her eyes. "With… With your permission?" he whispered, like the gentleman he was.

Marinette felt her cheeks flush darkly. Unable to speak, she nodded once.

The kiss was everything she had ever hoped it could be. Soft and sweet, and charged with everything that neither of them knew how to say. One hand cupped her face while the other gripped her shoulder and pulled her close. Her arm tightened around his waist, her fingers curled into his shirt, her other hand pressed against his chest before she reached up to anchor herself against his neck.

Adrien pulled away smiling, his fiery blush second only to her own. Without a word, Marinette tucked herself under his chin, curling her legs underneath her, pressing both of her hands into his chest. He responded in kind, wrapping his arms around her so that one hand cradled the back of her head and the other rested naturally in the curve of her waist, his head turned so that his cheek pressed against the crown of her head.

This was okay.

_They_ were okay.

So long as they had each other, they could make it through whatever happened next.


End file.
